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Gwyneth Paltrow’s annual press dump kicked off last week with a Vanity Fair cover, a Goop-focused Q&A in Fortune, and the resolution of a nonexistent feud with her Montecito neighbor Meghan Markle, whose Loro Piana and Jenni Kayne knits are suddenly capturing attention. It seems like we are at the beginning of a nine-month reentry campaign that will culminate with the Christmas Day release of Marty Supreme, Paltrow’s first leading role in 15 years. What a time to be alive. Paltrow has always displayed exceptional aptitude at controlling the narrative; she knows exactly what to say to generate a near-instant ripple of headlines. Most recently, these public musings have centered on sex scenes with younger men (in this case, Marty Supreme co-star Timothée Chalamet), intimacy coordinators (a genre given bloom by the never-ending Blake Lively–Justin Baldoni legal scandal), and equivocating about R.F.K. Jr.’s MAHA worldview.

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Her return to the stage also seems like a natural segue for the next iteration of Goop, which Paltrow has been trying to reinvent forever, and whose investor base has been patiently waiting for years for an exit. (At this point, I suspect, many investors would be happy for a modest return on their capital.) It’s impressive how involved Paltrow remains in Goop, but her decision to remain C.E.O. inevitably dragged on the business. It’s true that monetizing a content platform now looks nothing like it did in 2008––a sweeping, industry-wide issue not specific to Goop––but it’s on Paltrow for not installing proper leadership. Vagina-scented candle drops don’t make for sustainable, profitable businesses. Goop often seems like the vanity brand of a creative celebrity who wanted to dabble in business, but Paltrow is running a company that closed a Series D in 2020 valuing the business at $380 million, pre-money. (Goop has raised more than $140 million.) “Gwyneth is very much engaged across the business,” a person close to the company assured me. “She’s running the day-to-day operations.” This isn’t a Skims situation, where Kim Kardashian has Jens Grede to run the business. Goop’s executive team includes a C.F.O. and a chief people officer, as well as a “V.P.-ish-level person” on each team, according to the person close to the company. But Goop doesn’t have a C.M.O. or president, and I’m told the C.T.O. and the E.V.P. of brand and communications left last year. Meanwhile, Westview Ventures, an advisory that also works with Violet Grey and Flamingo Estate, came in to help restructure Goop last year, but I’ve heard conflicting reports about the scope and depth of the firm’s current role. “Westview is providing some consulting services,” the person close to the company said. Either way, the board has to be concerned. Despite Paltrow’s insistence that Goop’s business is “healthy” and the company’s usual recitation of year-over-year and year-to-date rates of growth (but never actual revenue or sales figures), the company still isn’t profitable some 17 years after its inception. Last year, on the heels of several rounds of layoffs, I was told by a person with knowledge of Goop’s financials that the company’s overall revenue has been more or less flat since 2021. Paltrow wouldn’t tell Vanity Fair if Goop was profitable. Instead, she offered marble-mouthed, almost Trumpian platitudes. “My business is a good business and it’s a strong business and the brand is strong,” she said, adding that Goop “just had our best year.” (A company spokesperson declined to comment.)

In some ways, Paltrow’s Fortune interview showed how far Goop has fallen behind its former trajectory. Paltrow specifically called out Amazon as a highlight for Goop Beauty’s business. “You want to be where the customer is, which is why we have such a good business on Amazon,” she said, adding that the beauty line is “exploring” other big wholesalers. But how “good” is Goop Beauty’s Amazon business? I’m told by someone with knowledge of the business that sales ranged from about $100,000 to $200,000 a month for the last four months, and that March is following a similar trajectory. According to YipitData, Goop Beauty’s total Amazon sales are in the range of $1 million to $2 million per year, which means that Goop’s revenue is actually about half that number. For context, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, which is solely focused on beauty, did about $200 million in revenue in 2024. Another person close to the company told me that Goop Beauty’s wholesale “is always growing,” with global wholesale partnerships on the rise and a new, yet-to-be-announced U.S. retail partner. But that doesn’t make up for Goop’s lack of traction in the retail space, at least domestically: Goop’s U.S. Sephora business remains tiny. Last spring, I reported that U.S. retail sales for the brand were only in the six figures at Sephora for the entirety of May—a fraction of the double-digit millions in revenue that some of the LVMH-owned retailer’s brands can do in a month.

Then in October, I reported that the Goop team had scrambled to figure out what to do after its Target diffusion line, Good.clean.goop, had an underwhelming October 2023 launch. I’ve heard the line was in the “bottom 15” at Target. “I don’t see any indication based on what’s been prioritized at total company levels that the brand is being elevated at all,” said a person close to Target’s business. Another insider with knowledge of the Target deal said the line will likely be sold at the retailer until exclusivity runs out. “I know their contract was pretty robust,” this insider added. It’s true that the company has had some “big wins” this year, from two G Label fashion launches to a new retinol eye cream that debuts this weekend, plus a new Goop Kitchen location and a Goop retail expansion on the horizon. There’s also a “new retail concept”—a store with a treatment room for “experiential facials” and other yet-to-be-revealed services––that was supposed to roll out last fall in Goop’s new Larkspur, California, location. (They should be open for booking by the end of April.) The aforementioned source also confirmed that Goop is now “strategically hiring” to enact a business plan born out of the restructuring and layoffs last year, one that emphasizes food, beauty, and fashion.

Of course, founders are rarely omnipresent, often retreating and then reimmersing themselves in the business (or getting forced out and replaced by a proven C.E.O.). Over the past year, Paltrow’s involvement has been inconsistent, according to a few sources, while others have suggested that she’s as around as ever. That said, someone who knows her intimately suggested that her involvement diminished greatly last summer, possibly because of the filming of Marty Supreme. “Before the big layoffs, she stepped back from the day-to-day in a dramatic way,” this person said. “People said, Huh? Is this an extended vacation?” Both of these things can be true, and probably are, given the growing pains the company has endured during that time. However, this same person pointed out something else: the strategically timed podcast that Goop released on the same day the VF cover dropped. The “special solo episode,” titled “Gwyneth on Change, Letting Go, and What Comes Next,” is presented as Paltrow’s reflections “on the transitions that shape our lives.” But this source thinks “letting go” was the wrong message to send Goop’s future partners—if there are any. “If I were Gwyneth and I addressed my audience, I’d say how much I loved the company and how being in the job is so fulfilling that I don’t see myself stopping,” this person said, all of which would be reassuring to a potential acquirer or investor. Instead, this may be a rare example of Paltrow going off-message.

Kirbie does a nice job outlining what’s going on with Thirteen Lune and the latest legal woes surrounding co-founder Nyakio Grieco, who has been accused of fraud and embezzlement. [Ahead of the Kirb] Chanel, eager to catch up with Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl perfume franchise, is expanding its Chance collection. This is the first scent to come out under Simona Cattaneo, president of Chanel Fragrance and Beauty, a seasoned fragrance executive I interviewed many times during her tenure at Coty, where she was both C.M.O. and then president of luxury brands. [WWD] After denying followers any context for her drastic weight loss, influencer Remi Bader did an hourlong sit-down with Khloé Kardashian where Bader finally admitted to having weight loss surgery. [X]

And finally… Should we make Shailene Woodley and Emily in Paris star Lucas Bravo my new Taylor and Travis? Unfortunately, I’m having trouble coming up with a good reason to comment on the development of their personal brands via coupledom, because who cares. Ridiculous looks, though. Until tomorrow, Lauren

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